Slow Food Festival – Central Europe

7 December 2015

Nearly 200 farmers, food producers and producers from the Slow Food and Terra Madre network, as well as experts and professionals from the food world in central Europe will gather in Krakow this weekend for the Slow Food Festival – Central Europe. Delegates will come from Armenia, the Baltic States, Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Austria, Germany, and Italy.

Several products from the Slow Food Presidia, projects that work directly with artisanal food producers, will be present at the event. For example, the Mangalica sausage from Hungary will be presented by one of the breeders of the Hungarian Mangalica pig. The Bucegi Mountain Branza de Burduf cheese from Romania as well as the Oscypek cheese from Poland will also be presented by their respective producers.

The program will include 30 taste and culinary workshops, thematic debates and demonstrations where well-known authorities will be in attendance. Ursula Hudson, President of Slow Food Germany; MartaWille-Baumkauff, head of Slow Food Tokaj (Hungary); and Phillip Braun, leader of Slow Food Linz (Austria), will all attend the event on behalf of the Slow Food network. They will join the festival on Saturday, December 12 at 11 am at the ICE Kraków Congress Center for a discussion regarding the opportunities and challenges of agriculture in central Europe.

From Friday, December 11 and during the entire weekend of the festival there will be 15 themed dinners held in several restaurants, clubs and bars in Krakow and prepared by well-known Polish chefs recommended by Slow Food Poland. This will be an opportunity to experience first-hand how Ark of Taste products from Polish and central European countries can be transformed into delicious, healthy dishes. There will also be workshops for children, which are designed to show younger generations the richness and diversity of central European products. The event will provide several ways to discover the rich culture of the area through concerts, theatrical performances and culinary film screenings.

The event will include a Slow Wine vinotheque serving more than 250 Italian wines featured in the Slow Wine Guide. There will also be a selection of wines by producers from Armenia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Georgia. Rounding out the wine-related festivities, there will be a competition among central European wines for the best St. Martin’s wine along with several workshops held on Saturday and Sunday in Hall A and B with the participation of Sarolta Bardos from the Tokaj Nobilis vineyard (Hungary), Marta Wille-Baumkauff from Pendits vineyards (Hungary) and several wines from Livia Girboiu vineyards (Romania), Selvapiana Chianti Rufina vineyard (Italy), and Fornacelle Bolgheri vineyards (Italy).

The Slow Food Festival – Central Europe will be held from December 12 to 13, 2015, at the ICE KrakowCongress Center in Krakow (Poland) from 10 am to 6 pm and is organized by Slow Food Poland and Krakow Festival Office.